Golden Hearts
by PS100
Summary: A collection of studies on the relationships between the characters of Golden Sun. Chapter 5: Jenna's wiles seem to be too much for Saturos!
1. Spikes

A/N: This is pretty much just going to be a bunch of studies of the possible romantic relationships between the characters of Golden Sun. There are several that I definitely plan on visiting: Isaac/Mia, Piers/Jenna, Felix/Sheba... and this next one.

Spikes

She couldn't remember much about what had happened.

She remembered breaking out of the fusion, badly wounded and just barely alive. She remembered Saturos kneeling beside her, bleeding profusely from a dozen wounds. She remembered those four children, watching her apprehensively, hoping that they would not die, hoping that, somehow, they would live.

She remembered hitting the water. She remembered the odd, artificial light filtering down through the waves to her from the top of the Lighthouse.

She remembered strong arms lifting her from the water.

But other than that, Menardi could remember nothing about what had transpired atop the Venus Lighthouse. Even what she could remember came in flashes, barely enough to even be called true memories. Now, as she lay somewhere, completely numb and blind and deaf, she was unable to understand how she had survived at five-hundred-foot drop or being underwater for what must have been hours. Not even an Adept could do that, and certainly not one who was on death's doorstep.

She was conscious, but it seemed that her body was separate from her mind. She could get only snippets of feeling from her body, and she couldn't open her eyes to look around. She was covered by a blanket, a soft, warm blanket... but that was all she knew.

Menardi was forced to pass time by sleeping, something she didn't like to do any time but at night, when she absolutely needed to.

Saturos was dead. She knew that, she had come to terms with it. He had been her best friend, almost her lover, and she missed him terribly. She wasn't sure how she knew this; after all, _she_ had lived. But there was a flash of Saturos spiraling down to the bottom of the ocean that was prominent in her mind. She wasn't sure if that was a dream or a memory, but either way, she was alone, wherever she was.

Menardi's body was getting steadily less numb. She now could always feel the blanket covering her. She could feel a thin cotton dress around her, a stark contrast to the thick leather clothes she had worn while in Prox and while traveling. She could feel the warm of a candle nearby... she could feel the gaze of another human watching her steadily, not looking away. She could feel the bed rock beneath her.

She was on a ship, being watched by someone.

Soon, she was able to summon the strength to open her eyes. She looked around. She was, indeed, on a ship... She could see an endless expanse of blue beyond the porthole on the other side of the room. There were three other beds around, two of which looked completely messy, the third neatly made with a staff resting lightly on top of it. Her bed was soft and warm, worn in by someone far larger than herself.

She looked up. Big brown eyes were staring down at her, looking a little concerned, but not overly so. A tan face with a broad nose and a strong chin was framed by dark red hair was what drew her in. She recognized that face.

Garet...?

"You...?" she whispered, her voice raspy from a long time of nonuse. "How...?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Garet replied. "I want to know how you survived the fall into the Lighthouse, and how you survived floating around on the ocean for two weeks while unconscious. You should be dead, Menardi."

"You think I don't know that?" Menardi asked. "I don't know how I survived... I'm not sure that I'm glad that I lived or not."

"It's a gift." Garet said simply. He reached down beside the bed and lifted something that dripped. A wet washcloth. He put it on Menardi's forehead, and immediately it cooled the fever that she hadn't known she had. Garet noticed the questioning expression on her face and said, "Mia wanted me to. It's not like I've got any love for you or anything that I'd want to help you."

"Right." Menardi said, feeling a slight tinge come to her cheeks. "Why are you guarding me?"

"Isaac wanted a watch on you at all times, 'cause he didn't trust you to not try and kill us if you woke up without our noticing." Garet said matter-of-factly. "I just volunteered 'cause they had put you in my bed."

"Right." Menardi said again. She closed her eyes and savored the cold washcloth that was cooling her forehead. After a moment, she said, 'Thank you..."

Garet blinked. He hadn't expected any gratitude from her. "Uh... you're welcome."

---

Two or three days passed, and gradually Menardi felt herself get stronger. She still couldn't get out of bed, but she could sit up a little and eat and drink, and read, and talk more easily with Garet. She was surprised to find that he volunteered to keep watch on her full-time, but she didn't really mind. She felt a little lonely without Saturos, and a Mars Adept was always a welcome companion, even if he had tried to kill her.

They talked quite a bit. Garet told her about Vale, and the things he had done as a child there. He told her about the pranks he would play on the other children... and he also told her about how, one day, Isaac challenged him and told him to stop. Garet fought him, and was thoroughly beaten, and since then (a hefty twelve years), he and Isaac had been best friends.

She told him about her youth in Prox, about training with her beloved little sister, about running through the wilds with Saturos. She told him about the fear she had felt when they had assigned her to go to Vale, about how much Saturos had needed to calm her down when they had first triggered the storm... and about how she could remember fighting him and Isaac. She told him how afraid she had been when the Doom Dragon had broken apart...

They talked for many hours. Menardi was surprised how warm and caring Garet could be once he got used to someone. He had seemed, on the three occasions when they had met previously, to be a warmongering, dunderheaded fool. And while she now recognized that his head was indeed made of lead, she understood that his heart was of gold.

"... so I went like this, ha!" He used a knife to show her his parries and strikes in a particularly violent battle with a monster in Suhalla Desert. He raised the knife to demonstrate a block. "But then he tried swipin' me with his tail, so I jumped over it and stabbed him like this!" He aimed the knife downwards and then thrust upwards, as if attacking under something of the monster's.

"Fascinating." Menardi said tolerantly. She was, however, impressed by his skill with a sword. "Your swordplay is good."

"Yeah, Isaac says so, too." Garet said with a nod. Then he looked troubled. "He always beats me, though."

Menardi chuckled. She said nothing, because anything she said would have merely hurt or annoyed him, and for some reason... she didn't want to do that to him. She looked at the wall and smiled, but then she felt something against her bare arm. She looked down and saw Garet running his fingers over the spikes and scales that ran the length of her arm. She blushed; no Proxan would ever consider doing that to another. It was a gross breach of personal space.

But... she didn't really mind.

"These are weird." he said, leaning closer to inspect the purple spikes. "I've never seen a human with stuff like this on them before. It's like a lizard's scales..." His fingers accidentally brushed the pink flesh on the top and inside of her bicep. Menardi blushed deeper, but didn't pull her arm away.

"They're... they're the sign of a Proxan." Menardi said quietly. "The power of the Mars Lighthouse, when it was lit hundreds of years ago, warped us slightly. It made us all stronger, for one thing, but it also changed us physically. It gave us pointed ears..." She raised a hand to the deep pink, double-pointed ears on either side of her head. "Odd skin color..." The hand ran along her cheek, which was bi-colored: deep pink around her eyes, but a lighter pink between her eyes and down to her chin. "And the spikes and scales on our arms." She put her hand on his, causing him to look up and blush.

"Menardi..." he said, looking a little confused.

"Proxans don't touch each others' spikes." Menardi explained with a smile. "It's like touching someone else's privates. It just isn't done."

Garet blushed deeper and pulled his hand away from Menardi's arm. "M-menardi, I'm sorry, I didn't realize... I-"

"Don't worry about it." Menardi said, shaking her head. "You didn't know."

Garet still looked embarrassed. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"I know."

They sat in silence for a while, neither looking at the other. Menardi knew that Garet was embarrassed beyond belief, and she couldn't really blame him. In retrospect, though, perhaps comparing the spikes to genitals was a bad idea. She cast Garet an appraising glance, but he didn't look back at her. He stared fixedly down at his feet, probably berating himself for touching her anywhere without permission.

"Garet..."

Garet looked sheepishly up at her, and even then, didn't meet her eyes.

"Do you think we can put the past behind us...?"

He looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"All that conflict we had..." Menardi murmured, hugging herself slightly. "The fights we had, the hatred we held for each other... Can we let that go and become..." She stopped in mid-sentence, unsure of what exactly it was that she was about to say. "Can we just let it go?"

Garet watched her for a few seconds without saying anything. He leaned stood and leaned over her, his brown eyes boring into her red ones, making her feel... odd. His face was close to hers, and she could feel his warm breath against her skin. The hair on the back of her neck stood up.

"We've already let it go." he said quietly. "Haven't you been able to tell? If I hated you like I did while we were chasing you and Saturos all around Angara and Gondowan, then I wouldn't be in this room with you right now. I wouldn't... I wouldn't think you were so great." He paused one more time and looked directly into her eyes. "I wouldn't be in love with you."

Menardi's breath left her. She looked up into that great tan face, and she felt something... the thing that kept her from making fun of him, that had let her keep her temper around him, that let him touch her spikes without her minding... She said nothing, but merely closed her eyes and leaned closer to him, letting this gesture explain her feelings for him.

Their lips met tenderly.

---

A/N: OK, so it's a little weird, but the Garet/Menardi pairing (what would that be called? oO) is one of my favorites. I used it in my first (and admittedly worst) GS fic, and I liked the way their personalities contrasted so much. I found it hard, though, to convey Menardi's rather Jenna-like personality in such little space though, so if she seems a little... OOC, sorry, I didn't have much choice.

By the way, to those of you who will say that "Menardi was dead! Garet's a necro!" I say, "Nyah!" Golden Sun's story never decides conclusively whether Saturos and Menardi died, even though Karst is pretty well obsessed with her big sister being passed on. True, they fell into the Lighthouse, but they may have had some Psynergy that allowed them to survive, or catch a floor or something on the way down. You never know. (Agatio and Karst's fates are similarly clouded.)

Oh well, all things aside, I hope you enjoyed!


	2. Glow

A/N: Yep, part two. This one is about Isaac and Mia, but unlike the first, the relationship already exists. Because of this, the dynamic is different... as you'll see.

And, just because it was an anonymous reply (please don't kill me, Admin People!): lemuriangirl, I will do a Piers/Karst story. I had never thought about the possibility of that pairing, but now that I think of it, the idea intrigues me. I don't know when I'll get to it, but it will be done within the next few chapters here.

One more thing: please, if you're going to review, either sign in or leave an email. Makes my life easier when I go to show my appreciation for the review. That's all for now... I hope you enjoy this installment!

Glow

The hard oak floor of the quarters on the ship wasn't the most comfortable thing to lie on, but Isaac wasn't going to complain at all. The way things were at that particular moment, he would have lay on a bed of spikes and would have never complained about it.

Mia was lying beside him, her head on his shoulder. His right arm was around her shoulders, and their left hands were intertwined on his chest. They were staring up at the ceiling, not saying much, just enjoying the contact their bodies were making and listening to the sounds of the other breathing. They hadn't said anything before they had lain down together, and when they had, it had just sort of... happened.

Isaac was on cloud nine... something a little strange for a Venus Adept.

"It's so nice when we get breaks like this..." Mia murmured, sighing in contentment. "I hate it when we're always running, running, running... to have some peace and quiet like this every once and a while is a relief."

"Yeah." Isaac agreed. "Especially when we can spend them together..."

Mia smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. "Garet and Ivan will keep each other busy for a while. We'll have some nice quiet time together before they come barging in and ruin it."

Isaac chuckled. Garet and Ivan were outside, trying to prove who was better at frying seagulls. Much to Garet's very loud displeasure, Ivan was far more efficient. Because the seagulls were in the air, Ivan was able to hit them with lighting without much effort. Garet, on the other hand, had to aim his fire-fastballs, as he called them, and would miss more often than not.

They heard a shout of anger from outside. Isaac couldn't help but grin.

"That's fine with me." Isaac said, resting the side of his head against the top of Mia's. "The more time we have, the happier I am. We don't get nearly enough time alone, between fights and Garet barging in on us everywhere."

Mia blushed, recalling the memory of a particularly embarrassing incident when Garet had walked in on them while they had been making out. Though she wanted to do that with Isaac again, the inevitable walk-in made it hard for her to bring herself to. "I just want to kill him sometimes." she managed, a little more harshly than she had intended.

"He doesn't mean to." Isaac said reasonably. "He wouldn't do it intentionally. You know that."

Mia sighed. "I know. But that doesn't mean it annoys me any less."

Isaac kissed her on top of the head, the scent of her blue hair filling his nostrils and intoxicating him slightly. "If we barricade the doors, he won't be able to get in." he said with a grin. "He'd have to burn them down, and then _I'd_ kill him." He shrugged, making Mia's head bob a bit. "There are ways we could keep him out."

Though neither knew it, they were both having the same thought: in a way, they were a little glad that Garet would always walk in before things could get too far. They didn't know what they would do if things ever got beyond kissing, because they had never done anything but that. Isaac was a little embarrassed about feeling as he did, but Mia thought she was being sensible.

But neither of them said anything about it.

"I could always freeze him to the water barrels." Mia offered. Isaac laughed, and she rolled onto her side and snuggled closer to him, putting her head on his chest. "But let's enjoy what time we have, all right?" She paused. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Isaac raised his right hand and began rubbing her back absently. It was an oddly comforting gesture, both for him and for her. The cotton of the dress she was wearing felt strange beneath his fingers, but he didn't mind. He looked down at her and saw that she was staring off to their left. "What's wrong, Mia?"

"Nothing." Mia said. "I'm looking at the window." Isaac looked at the window, too. It was twilight, and it was getting darker in the room they were in. But as it got darker, the things outside the window began to glow with an eerie light that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. "I love the way the world outside glows when it gets dark in a room... it's so beautiful."

"Yeah." Isaac said quietly, a little awed. He had noticed the same thing before, but it had never seemed beautiful to him. But now, with Mia around... absolutely anything was beautiful. "Why does that happen?"

"I don't know." Mia responded softly. "But when I was small, and everything was too scary, or when I was crying, I'd lie on my bed and stare at the window as everything got dark, and the glow would comfort me... But now..." She looked up at Isaac, their eyes meeting. "There's nothing I need comforting over..."

They stared into each other's eyes for a few minutes without saying a word. Isaac was struck by just how clear the blue of Mia's eyes was, and how beautiful they were... He could see just how happy Mia was there with him, and how utterly calm she was even though he could feel himself being drawn towards her by some inexplicable gravity...

Was it the glow that was doing this to him...?

His head leaned closer to hers, his eyes closing half-way as he started to-

"Hey! Isaac! We got din-"

Garet threw open the door just as Isaac and Mia were about to kiss. They jumped at the sound of his voice and smacked their foreheads together painfully, then looked up at him in annoyance. He gazed down at them from his six feet and three inches and sighed. "You two need to find somewhere more private."

"There's very little that's private from you." Mia muttered, rubbing her forehead. "You could find us if we made ourselves invisible."

"Sorry." Garet said. He scratched the back of his head. "Uh... Ivan and I got dinner. It's seagull again."

"Better than nothing." Isaac said with a shrug. "Though we won't have to stop in port for a few more days... Thanks, Garet. Go tell Ivan to start cooking, and tell him Mia and I will be up in a minute."

Garet stared at him. "You guys are gonna-"

"_Now_, Garet." Isaac said, more forcefully. Garet sighed and turned and left the room, closing the door behind him as he went. Isaac didn't look at Mia right away; instead, he looked at the window again, drawn by the increasing glow from outside. He blinked a few times.

"Isaac?" Mia asked uncertainly. "What's wrong?"

Isaac didn't say anything for a second. Then, he looked at her and said, "It's hard to believe that the glow is forming in the window with all the light coming from you in here." It was kind of a corny thing to say, but Mia was taken aback. Isaac reached out and touched her hair, smiling warmly. "Let's go get some dinner."

Mia looked at him for a moment and nodded. "All right." She smiled as he stood and offered his hand, which she took and allowed him to help her to her feet. She didn't feel robbed because of Garet's intrusion, because she knew that Isaac didn't mind much. She knew that kissing wasn't what was most important to either of them. As they left the room together, she reflected on how comfortable they were together, and how much they just appreciated being together.

---

A/N: OK, OK, so it's a little short. Please don't burn effigies of me. '

Anyway, I felt that this was a very important pairing to study, this Isaac/Mia stuff, because it would be the primary pairing in Golden Sun, in my opinion. Though Isaac does travel with the intent of rescuing Jenna, I don't think he loves her... instead, he views her as he views Garet: a trusted friend. Mia, on the other hand, is relatively new in Isaac's life, and he didn't know her in that period before he became interested in girls. Because of that, while she's still going to be one of his good friends, she's also going to be someone he can view as a romantic possibility, because he hasn't know her forever and because he doesn't feel that she can be just a friend.

As a side note, I may end up doing an Isaac/Jenna chapter in the future. However, I wanted to do the Isaac/Mia chapter first, because I like the pairing better and because it's easier for me to write. I can just imagine the relationship between Isaac and Mia easier, and I can think of how they would act towards each other with more ease than I can with Isaac and Jenna. Oh well.

Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Sympathy

A/N: As requested, here it is! The Piers/Karst chapter. This one is a little long; at least, it's longer than the Mudshipping one. Still, I hope you enjoy!

Sorry about the delay; my most recent work of original fiction took on a life of its own, and it got hard to get away from. I'm back, though, aren't I? Is that enough apology? ... No...?

And, um, yeah. Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun, etc. etc. (I always forget to do the disclaimer... oh well.)

Sympathy

Prox was cold still, but nowhere near as cold as it had been.

The Lighthouse was lit, and Weyard was safe. In some ways, that was enough for the eight young Adepts who had done that, but in other ways, it left something to be desired. So much had happened that, without this quest to keep them occupied, they were restless. They had much to deal with and sort out in their personal lives, and because of this strain, they remained in Prox for several months.

Perhaps the one with the most to sort was Piers.

He had been left with nothing. Everything he had loved, and cared about, and had to live for had been taken from him by this journey. His mother was dead. He could never return to Lemuria. He would never see his uncle again.

What had he done to deserve this? He had always been a good boy; he had never disobeyed his mother or uncle; he had always helped others; he had given up his old life so he could save Lemuria. Why did he deserve to have it all taken away from him?

He decided, after much thought and solitude, that there was little to be done about it. Besides, he now had eight wonderful friends, all of whom cared very much about him. He would spend evenings with Kraden, studying the history of the outside world. He would train with Garet in the morning, their swords clashing and glinting in the weak northern sunlight. In the afternoons, he would take long naps in the hammock inside his room at the inn.

Things were generally good, he supposed.

Things happened as they stayed in Prox. Perhaps the most world-shattering thing to happen, in the opinion of the Proxans, at least, was that Puelle gave up his spot as mayor. He said that he was happy now that Prox was safe, and that his job should now be left to someone else. Though the majority of Prox thought he was a wonderful mayor and wanted him to stay, they accepted his quiet retirement and chose a new mayor.

What Piers thought was more important was the discovery made in the Lighthouse a few days after it had been relit.

Agatio and Karst were alive.

They had been nearly dead when a group of worshippers (yes, worshippers; not only was the Lighthouse safe again, but its light brought about a strange desire to worship in the Proxans) stumbled upon them. Agatio's chest had been torn open, though he was still conscious and responsive, but Karst had been out cold, her heart barely beating, a wound just below her breastbone still bleeding slightly.

They were in a very bad way. The worshippers had forgotten their new-found religion and dragged their heroes back to Prox, where they were taken care of by Mia and Piers.

The two Mercury Adepts had taken turns watching over the badly-wounded Proxans. Agatio got better rapidly, if only because he was conscious and was able to take larger doses of potion. Within three weeks, Agatio had been able to hobble home, his pride still wounded more than his body.

Karst, however, had remained unconscious for much longer.

_"Your hand on my shoulder... so warm... I had forgotten how warm people's hands are..."_

Piers blinked as he thought of that. He remembered the broken form of Karst lying on the cold stone floor of the lighthouse, bleeding profusely, her red eyes barely open, a sick, weak smile on her face as she spoke. He had felt so horrible about leaving she and Agatio there after their fight, but they had both insisted that they go on... They were patriots, and they loved their hometown literally to death.

She had looked so small and weak there, not at all like the fierce wildcat of a girl that he had fought against. Somehow... Piers liked her like that.

When she had woken up, Mia had been on watch. She had explained everything that had happened, and had continued giving care to her.

For some reason, Piers had been unable to keep watch during the day, while she was awake. It wasn't that Karst frightened him, far from it. It was that he was... nervous about her. Thinking about her lit an uncharacteristic fire in his heart, something he was unused to. So he had asked Mia if she could keep watch during the day, and though she was a bit disappointed because that would lessen her time with Isaac, she had agreed.

It had taken several weeks longer for Karst to get well enough to go home. Piers had watched her as she stumbled out of the make-shift hospital, clutching her side as her thigh-length boots stomped through the snow.

"You should go talk to her, if you're this enamored." Mia had suggested as they packed up. The room they had used as a hospital was in the mayor's mansion, where Jenna and Felix's parents and Isaac's father had spent their recovery time. Mia had folded up the sheets on the bed so she could take them to be washed.

Piers had known she was right, even as he packed up the equipment and surgical tools they had used. And he still knew she was right, even as he sat in his room at the inn, staring down at his journal. But he had never had any interest in a girl before, and in a way, he was ashamed of himself. He was one-hundred-twenty-three, for Lemuria's sake! He should have been ready to pair off.

But physically and mentally, he was still only seventeen, and he was nervous. True, he was more mature than even Felix, but Piers was a naturally serious boy, and that was the reason for his maturity. But talking to girls, particularly a little spitfire like Karst...

"Come on, Piers." He looked up at the door to his inn to see Mia walking in. "You can't sit here forever." she chided. "Karst is an attractive girl, and she's going to be attracting suitors now that she's not in the guard anymore." She seized him by the forearm and dragged him up, pulling him towards the door.

"But Mia-!" he protested, all the way through Prox and towards the house that Karst and Menardi had once shared. He dug his boots into the snow, trying to stop his forward momentum, but it didn't help any. Mia was determined, and by Boreas, when that girl got something in her head, she didn't give up on it, though she was certainly softer about going about it than Jenna.

"There." Mia shoved him up in front of the door and leapt behind some bushes. Piers stared fearfully at the door. He looked over at Mia, who pantomimed knocking. Piers raised a trembling fist and slowly, rapped on the oak door.

It opened. He looked down at Karst, whose red eyes narrowed when she saw him.

He blushed a little, but not just from her gaze. Her entire torso was wrapped in bandages, some of which were stained red. Over the bandages she had a loose sleeveless undershirt, which probably would have embarrassed them both had she not had the bandages on, too. Piers shook his head and looked at her face again and stammered, "Um... H-hi, Karst, how are y-you?"

"I'm fine." Karst said suspiciously. "What's your problem, Piers?"

"N-nothing." Piers frowned slightly in intense concentration. It was taking every last ounce of willpower in his body to keep him from screaming and running away like a little baby. "I just w-wanted to kn-know how you were f-feeling. You didn't look so good while you were at the hospital and I-" He stumbled as the word he meant to say came up. He had been doing well, but he had to think of that... "And I was worried." he finished quietly.

Karst blinked at him, her harsh gaze softening a little. "I dunno why you'd worry about me, after what Agatio and I did to you." she muttered. "But I'm fine. Anything else?"

"Nothing in p-particular." Piers managed.

"'Kay." Karst said. "'Bye." She closed the door in his face.

Piers breathed a sigh of relief and turned away from the door, happy to see the end of it. "That was hard." he murmured.

"You pitiful moron!"

Piers winced. It was Jenna.

"You can do better than that!" Jenna and Mia stepped out from the bushes. How, exactly, Jenna had come to get there was beyond him, but Mia looked a little ashamed as Jenna said, "Come on! We're going to make sure you come back here every day until you can talk to her normally."

"But Jenna-"

"No buts." Jenna insisted. "If Isaac can talk to Mia, you can talk to Karst."

"That's different, Jenna." Mia said quietly. "Isaac and I are-" She paused. "Well, I've never tried to kill Isaac."

"Regardless." Jenna said, shaking her head. "We're gonna make sure you can talk to Karst before we leave Prox, or I'll eat a plated rat."

Piers sighed again. This would not be pleasant.

---

Much to his surprise, though, Jenna was very gentle in getting him to do much of anything. Over the next two weeks, Piers went to Karst's house every day to talk to her. At first, he had stuttered a lot and she had refused to let him in, but he soon managed to control himself when he spoke. Finally, after a full week, Karst had gotten comfortable enough with him to let him inside.

He had been surprised. The house was sparsely decorated, and there were only a few chairs, and there was a single bed in the corner. It hadn't looked like a large house from the outside, but it had struck Piers as absolutely tiny inside.

He had noticed that there was a framed picture next to her bed. It was of a beautiful blond Proxan with warm pink skin, smiling happily as she sat cross-legged on what appeared to be a barrel. Piers had asked Karst about it, almost afraid of the answer.

"That's Menardi." she had replied, her voice quiet. "My big sister. The one Isaac and the rest killed. I drew that right before she left to go to Vale the second time... She was so happy to be doing a service for Prox..." Her voice trailed away, and her face looked troubled.

"It's very good." Piers said softly.

That had gotten an awkward, "Thanks."

The second week had been much smoother, much to Piers' relief. As he sat in his inn room, he though back about his conversations with her and found that there wasn't much of anything that he regretted having done or not done. The two of them had spent many hours talking, discussing plans for the future, expressing regret about having started off as enemies, even occasionally laughing about stupid things that their friends had done.

Piers found that he was beginning to care very much about Karst. She was, as he had thought, a fiery, passionate girl, but at the same time she was (rather quietly) kind, caring, and happy.

She was also very fragile.

For how tough she acted, Karst was in turmoil inside. From what she had told him, her happiness as a child had relied entirely on Saturos and Menardi, but now both of them were dead. She had said several times that she didn't know if she'd every be really happy again. She had spent her days since waking up after the fight at the Lighthouse debating whether it was worthwhile continuing onward.

He told her, more than once, that it was. He told her that the pain would be fresh for a while, but that it would lessen with time. He did not tell her how he knew.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. She had been feeling ill that morning, and he had decided that he would come back the next day. He hoped that she was all right. Sighing, he looked out the window in his room. The sun was already setting, though it was only three in the afternoon. He could see Karst's house, high up on a hill across town.

"I should have stayed with her." he muttered.

There was a knock at the door.

"Hello?" Piers asked, turning to look at the door. It opened... and Karst walked in. She was clutching her side as she often did while she walked, and she was still wearing the bandage-undershirt-skirt combination, but she was there. She looked a little ill, her normally flushed skin pale. "Are you all right?" he asked, standing and walking over to her. He took her hand and led her over to his bed, where he sat her down and put the blanket around her shoulders. "You look ill."

"I told you I was sick." Karst snapped. Piers smiled tolerantly and cast Ply, easing her ills slightly. "Thanks." she muttered grudgingly.

"You're welcome." Piers said. He walked back over to his chair and turned it around so he could look at her before sitting down. "Why'd you come here if you were sick, Karst?"

"I wanted to see you, stupid." Karst said, drawing the blanket more tightly around her. "I... I got kinda used to having you around for company, and when you weren't here today, I... I, uh, missed you."

Piers smiled. "I missed you, too, Karst." He looked out the window again. "It'll be dark soon. You'll have to stay here tonight, I think. Is that all right?"

Karst nodded. "Yeah, that's fine." She drew her legs up onto the bed with her and stared at Piers, who stared back.

"Anything in particular you wanted to talk about?" Piers asked.

Karst shook her head, and Piers looked down at his boots. She still wasn't entirely open with him about her feelings, he that was to be expected. You don't just open right up with a person who was your enemy until two weeks beforehand. But at the same time... they were friends now, and Piers couldn't see a reason for her not to tell him what was wrong.

Piers leaned back a little in his chair. Next thing he knew, Karst's red eyes were wide open and boring holes in his own.

"Menardi's dead." she said, her voice oddly strong. "I had this fire inside for so long, like I wanted to kill everyone and drown the pain in blood... But now, I just feel hollow. I think I'm finally starting to know what it feels like to have lost someone I love..."

"It hurts." Piers said quietly, nodding. "And you might think that, at first, it's a bad feeling... But in the end, it's something that I believe everyone should feel in the end. Mortality is something that everyone must deal with, both in their own lives and in others'... and I think that it's best that people feel the sense of loss at someone's death and come to terms with their mortality and that of others as soon as possible."

Karst blinked at him. Piers stood up and walked over to her to settle beside her on the bed. She continued to look at him as she said, "Did someone you know die...?"

Piers nodded again, a sad expression crossing his face. "Yes. The wave that came right after the lighting of the Venus Lighthouse washed me away from Lemuria, my home... And after I was washed away, my mother got so worried that her weak heart couldn't take it... She died before I could even come back to say good-bye..." He looked at Karst out of the corner of his eye. "A lot like you and Menardi."

Karst said nothing. She again looked troubled, her pointed pink ears drooping slightly as she frowned. She looked away from Piers, at the chair where he had been sitting before. He could see the hurt in her eyes, and though he knew that he wasn't the cause of it, he wanted to help her.

Piers' strong, muscular arm reached out and placed itself around her small shoulders. She flinched slightly at his touch, though the blanket separated them, and he could feel the slightest trace of a shudder run through her body as he drew her close to him. "It hurts a lot now, Karst. Believe me, I know. But it will lessen with time... You'll start to think not about the pain you feel or about Menardi being dead, but instead about the good times the two of you had together. It's all right to feel as you do... but just give it time, all right?"

He looked down at her to find that she was still looking away. He felt a little deflated, as if she had come along and literally burst his bubble, but he did not remove the arm from her shoulders. The spikes on her arms poked through the blanket and dug into his chest and armpit, but he didn't mind. He would do anything to cheer her up.

Then, suddenly, her head whirled around and the startling red eyes met his own yellow ones. Karst nodded slowly and said, "You're right, Piers. I'll do my best to work through this..." Her voice grew quieter, and she said, "Thank you."

Piers opened his mouth to reply, but instead found that Karst was kissing him lightly. Then, just as suddenly as all that had happened, her head nestled against his chest and her body leaned against his side. Before Piers' surprised mind could fully link what had happened, she was asleep, her breath coming in soft snores that shook her small, lithe body in an oddly pleasant way.

Piers couldn't help but smile.

---

A/N: I found that getting this story up until the point where Karst brings up Menardi's death was a little difficult. I like Piers and Karst, but I'm not their hugest fan, and finding a way to get them together logically was a challenge. I have to say, though, I'm pretty pleased with the result.

The common denominator between Piers and Karst is death, as is evident from their discussion. Because of that, I felt that that would be the way to link them. Piers deals with his mother's death very well, in my opinion; I know I certainly wouldn't be able to leave right after finding out my mom was dead. Karst, inversely, deals horribly with Menardi's death, swearing fire and brimstone on those who killed her. If Piers could lure Karst away from that path by showing her that death was only natural, and that it was all right to feel what she did... That was the motivation for this.

So, yay! to another completed chapter. And thanks to lemuriangirl, who requested this pairing. Kudos!


	4. Waterfall

A/N: OK, just a heads up, although this chapter is still pretty tame by all chapters, there is a more obvious sexual undertone to it. Just in case you would want to know. '

Waterfall

Lama Temple was a strangle place to see Felix. In truth, he wasn't the East's biggest fan; those annoying little silkworms smelled funny to him, and he didn't like the thought of having to wear a gi and hakama if his clothes got wrecked during training.

Still, the climate was nice, and the Temple was quiet, for the most part. He would train with Master Hama every once in a while, but he spent most of his time in meditation. Of the many things Felix liked about himself, it was his ability to keep himself very calm and focused. The meditation was quite easy for him, and he benefited greatly.

"You have to relax, Felix." Hama told him one day as she carefully pressed her palms repeatedly into his bare shoulders, easing the muscles so he could meditate more easily. Felix had at first been embarrassed by gestures like this, but had soon come to enjoy the time and contact he spent with Hama.

"It's hard sometimes." Felix told her as her hands moved to his nape, pushing on the bundle of muscles where his neck, shoulders, and back met. "I had a dream about Jenna last night... I miss her."

"She's all right." Hama said, smiling slightly. "You'll only be here a few more months, and then you and I will go to Kalay together to see our siblings. You just need to get more control over your Psynergy, and then things will be better."

Felix winced a little, remembering the battle against the Doom Dragon. He had been fighting, just as everyone else had, but something had happened to Felix that hadn't happened to the others. He had been trying to use Stone Spire and instead used something that was more akin to a complete cave-in of spires.

At first, Isaac and Piers, the "experts" on Psynergy in their group, had theorized that it had been a one-time thing. But then Felix had nearly beheaded Garet in a spar when he had used an intentionally-weakened Ragnarok, and they knew that there was a problem.

Ivan, in all his infinite wisdom, had sheepishly suggested that Felix go see Hama and see what she could do to help him. Felix had thought the idea was good and had asked Ivan if he wanted to come, but Ivan had politely declined, saying he wanted to go see Master Hammet and Lady Layana. Felix hadn't wanted to push him and had set off on his own once they had reached Kalay.

Despite the fact that she was, for all intents and purposes, a warrior, Hama's hands were soft and smooth and entirely feminine. Felix still almost unconsciously longed to feel them against his skin every other day, whether in these strange, entirely platonic massage sessions or when they would fist-fight using the strange martial arts that Hama was so proficient in.

Felix didn't mind the hurt that her hands would cause. He wondered sometimes if he was masochistic.

"What do you think is wrong with me?" Felix asked, looking over his shoulder as her as her hands moved to the sides of his chest.

"I don't think that there's anything wrong with you," Hama said patiently, "I just think that you have too much Psynergy for a person as relatively inexperienced with Psynergy as you are. You're only nineteen, right?"

Felix nodded. "Yes. And Saturos only really trained me with a sword, since he knew nothing about Venus Psynergy..."

"You have more Psynergy than any other human I have ever heard of." Hama told him quietly. "Your body is too young, small, and inexperienced to be able to easily contain all of that. So occasionally, some of your Psynergy slips out when you're attacking and makes the attack stronger than it needs to be."

Felix smiled a little. "And you massaging me is supposed to help this?"

Hama blushed a little but did not show any other indication of having been embarrassed. She gave a little cough that was not one she coughed voluntarily, and shook her head. "It's to relax you, which _will_ help you control your Psynergy better." He thought he heard her add under her breath, "Smart-ass."

Felix wondered if she realized that as long as she touched him as she did, he would never be able to relax.

---

"Felix."

"Felix?"

"Felix, hey."

Something soft ran down the length of Felix's back as he sat naked beneath the waterfall, meditating intensely. He jumped and looked up, finding Hama standing behind him and smiling. He blushed, embarrassed by his state of disrobement, and returned the smile shakily. "What's the matter, Master?" he asked, wondering why she had disturbed his meditation.

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked.

He blushed more deeply. The thought of... He shook his head to clear it, which he realized she might interpret as a no, and said, his voice wavering, "Uh, no, if you want to, go ahead.."

Hama pulled off her gi and hakama before bending over to remove her tabi and zori, her slender, graceful arms arcing downward and... Felix shook his head and closed his eyes again.

He'd _never_ be able to meditate now.

Her chest was covered by a wrap, though, and since she would be sitting, he wouldn't be able to see anything else. He realized, a bit belatedly, that if he continued thinking of his naked master that _she_ would be able to see quite a bit. He tried desperately to clear his mind, but he found that he kept envisioning her smooth, tanned skin...

"Damn it." he muttered.

Hama sat cross-legged next to him, her hands folded in her lap and her eyes closed. Felix stole a glance at her before closing his own eyes again and focusing on the sound of the waterfall hitting his body. Once he took a hold of that fact, it was easy to forget that Hama was-

"Damn it." he muttered again.

"Having trouble meditating?" Hama asked. Her voice sounded playful, teasing.

"N-no." Felix stammered. He felt a strange sensation that was a little like Psynergy being used, but he ignored it. He kept his eyes closed and focused as hard as he could on the water striking him and running over his back, shoulders, and chest. It was actually a pleasant feeling, somewhat like swimming in the river back in Vale, and-

"Felix, I can tell that you're unable to focus." Hama said quietly. Felix opened his eyes and looked at her, and saw that she was blushing a deep red that contrasted oddly with her purple hair.

"There's nothing wrong, Master." Felix said. "It's hard to tell if I'm focusing, anyway, unless you can-" He stopped in mid-sentence, horrified.

"Read minds?" Hama finished, opening her eyes and looking at him.

"I forgot that you're a Jupiter Adept." Felix muttered, insanely embarrassed. "I... Master, I'm sorry... You... you caught me thinking...?"

"Yes." Hama's blush hadn't lessened any, and her expression was... strange. "I shouldn't have read your mind, Felix, but I just wanted to see how well you could focus, and you were thinking about..." She paused, as if unable to find the right words. She settled on, "Me."

Felix looked away from her and frowned. "I should try to meditate again." he said lamely, closing his eyes and folding his hands as Hama had before.

Her hand touched his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to look at her. Her small, almond-shaped eyes were boring into his, her purple hair plastered to her smooth, heart-shaped face. "You're not going to be able to focus now, Felix." she said softly, her expression solemn.

"Er..." Felix blinked and stole a glace at Hama's body before looking back at her face. "I... I'm sorry if I embarrassed you."

"You should have told me if you felt that way." Hama said.

Felix stared. "Huh? You wanted me to tell you that I find you-"

It was Hama's turn to stare. "What are you talking about? You were thinking that you-"

"Find you attractive."

"Love me."

They stared at each other, confused out of their minds.

"You find me attractive?" Hama repeated, obviously taken aback.

"I love you?" Felix said, his mind grinding to a screeching halt. "I... wasn't thinking about that, Master Hama, though..." He looked away, towards the stream of water cascading over the cliff. "I suppose it is true."

"You... love me?" Hama murmured, her eyes wide with surprise. "And you find me attractive? Felix, these are weird things to be learning while both of us are naked under a waterfall that only you and I know how to get to..."

Felix, leaned back, away from her, reluctant to be too close to her. "You're beautiful." he said, his voice so low that both of them could barely hear it. "And you've been so kind to me while I've been here... You've done everything in your power to help me, and you've lessened your own training to focus on me, and you've given me meals and talked to me and joked with me and eased my fears... I guess... I guess doing all that for me just kind of let you worm your way into my heart."

Hama's expression was completely blank, her eyes wide and her mouth open slightly as she stared at him past the water that was falling between them. Her expression amused Felix a little, because she was always so serious and in-control that he never thought she could be completely taken by surprise.

"That was kind of sweet." she said finally. "I... I sometimes forget that many people are very impressionable, and that my acts of kindness may make them happy." She looked down at herself, as if seeing her body for the first time. "And I know for a fact that there are long periods of time where I forget that I'm a twenty-two year old woman. I guess..." She looked back up at him, a smile playing at her lips. "I guess that maybe it's time that I start paying more attention, eh?"

Felix had no idea what she meant. He watched her carefully, but she smiled broadly and turned away from him, sitting cross-legged again and putting her hands in her lap. "I'm much more at ease now, Felix. Thank you for helping me relax by being honest with me." She closed her eyes and began to focus.

Felix stared at her. "Can... can we continue like master and student like this? With my feelings being what they are?"

"I don't see why we wouldn't be able to." Hama murmured. Her eyes opened and she shot him a sidelong glance. "I'll just have to start taking it easy on you when we spar now, that's all."

Felix smiled. Yes, he was much more at ease now that Hama knew his feelings and he knew that she didn't mind. But there was something he had to do before he continued meditating. He leaned closer to her and grabbed a bare shoulder. He turned her upper body so she faced him and kissed her. Their lips pressed together for almost a full minute, Felix intentionally drawing the time out, before he pulled back slowly and smiled sheepishly.

"I love you, Master." he said, before sitting in the meditation position again and closing his eyes.

He heard Hama laugh and shift back into her own meditative position. "And I love you, my strange little student."

Hours passed, and their meditation could not have been more peaceful.

---

A/N: I was surprised how well this actually flowed once I started writing it. It only took me two hours to get it finished, which I think is a new record for one of my chapters. Considering how hard I thought this would be when it was requested, I'm pretty impressed.

As I wrote the beginning and the end, I was pretty confident, but when Hama actually got out under the waterfall with him and read his mind, I started to feel a little shaky. Though now that I've finished, I'm extremely pleased with the result (I think this is my favorite chapter so far), as I wrote all of that, I didn't know where I was taking it. However, the end seemed to tie things in nicely, at least in my opinion. What do you think?

When I first started trying to plan the Felix/Hama chapter, I automatically imagined them as teacher and student (perhaps it's because my original fiction involves a similar pairing), and I was going to run with that. Hama would be the calm, assuring teacher, and Felix would be the worried, in-need-of-comfort student. But that soon fell apart, and I took Hama a little out of character. Still, it seems to have worked out, because if I hadn't taken Hama out of character, she never would have become involved with Felix.

Purely as a sidenote, I had originally planned to have this be a more tragic tale. Hama would contract tuberculosis while Felix was training with her (the cough at the beginning is a remnant of that) and would end up dying at the end. I found, though, that following a Piers/Karst chapter where the pairing was based _solely_ on death with a story where one of the characters died would be a bit... gloomy, so I switched to this. Personally, I'm glad I did.

Whoooo. I'm tired now. I'm writing this as of about one in the morning because I just couldn't get the damn plot bunny out of my head. Oh well.

Oh, and kudos to GoldenTalesGeek, who first requested this pairing, as well as Critic of Constructiveness and Gravaja Umbros, who also suggested it!

And sorry about making you cry, lemuriangirl. I didn't set out to do that. '

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter.


	5. Fury

Disclaimer: Don't own Golden Sun, but Nintendo/Camelot do, blah blah blah. Forgot this last chapter again. '

Fury

He was the most infuriating man she had ever met.

And that was saying something, because she had grown up with Garet.

But Saturos wasn't infuriating because he wasn't letting Jenna get her way. No, he was the most stubborn, headstrong, sarcastic, relentlessly relentless... She seethed just thinking about it... And the way he would smirk so smugly when he knew he was getting to her in the most annoying ways possible... The way he would sip his tea and ignore her when she screamed at him, something not even Felix would have _dared_ to do...

And... well, in retrospect, Jenna supposed not getting her way had a factor in it, too.

"Why can't we stop in Bilibin?" she demanded of the blue-skinned man as the group walked slowly past the walled town.

"Because I said so." Saturos replied, quite calmly, as if observing the weather.

"And _why_ are you saying so?"

"We don't have time for the niceties of sleeping on beds and taking baths and drinking the nights away." Saturos said matter-of-factly, not even looking at her. He spoke as if it was obvious, as if it were clear as day. "As nice as all that sounds... We're on a tight schedule, Jenna, and I do not intend to let my village down."

Jenna sighed. They had often had arguments like this before, but it never seemed like a good enough defense on his part. "It's not like Isaac and Garet are going to beat the two of you." she said softly, hating herself for admitting it. "Why are you worried?"

"Every second passed is another second where Prox is dying." Saturos said, his voice harsh. "I don't give a damn about the children. It's... it's my home." He frowned and looked down at her. "I suppose that even a fiery git like you could understand that."

Jenna stared back at him for a moment.

Then...

"Hey! Did you just call me a git?"

"This is exactly what he was talking about." Menardi remarked dryly, putting a hand to her forehead. "Mars above, you're irritating." She looked pointedly at Saturos. "Are you sure we can't just tie her to a tree or something?"

"You're not going to tie her to a tree." Felix said stonily. Kraden barely repressed a smile.

"It's not worth the time it would take to tie her to said tree." Saturos said, smirking. "It's much easier just to gag her."

"I'm right here, you know!"

Jenna was very irate, and understandably so. Were a bath and a decent meal too much to ask? (All their meals were hot; how could they not be with two Mars Adepts around?) Was it so horrible that she just wanted a rest? After that fiasco in the Goma Range where Saturos had gotten them hopelessly lost in the caves that ran deep beneath the mountains, Jenna wasn't sure that the blue man had any right to make decisions for their group.

"Please, Saturos...?" Jenna asked quietly. "It's been a week and a half since we've had baths, and most of that was spent in the underground tunnels, and we're covered with blood and water and mud and rat poop. Just this one night...?"

Saturos stared coldly at her, as if she had been smoking death caps too long. But then she gave him The Look, The Patented Mind-Control Look, and she stuck out her lower lip and widened her eyes and made a soft whimpering sound.

No man was immune. Not even Saturos.

"Bloody hell." Saturos muttered, rubbing the back of his head wearily. "You're a pain in my ass, woman, you know that?"

"Please?" Jenna said again, her eyes turning shiny.

"It won't kill us, Saturos." Menardi put in, for once the voice of reason in the group.

It was clear that, behind his red eyes and blue locks, Saturos was debating furiously with himself. He frowned and his eyes narrowed, before he finally blurted, "Fine! Fine, you want to waste time and damn a thousand people, then so be it." He shook his head. "Since you were the one who insisted on this, Jenna, you can come to Bilibin with me and see if there are any openings in the inn."

Jenna blinked at him. "Why don't all of us come?"

"Because there's no sense in all of us getting arrested." Saturos replied. "You're sure to go off on someone, I just want to leave some people to continue onward while we're in a cell."

Jenna slapped him in the back of the head, but went with him anyway. She didn't know why, though she suspected it had something to do with being able to take a bath while Saturos went back to get the others. But there was something... else. She wasn't sure what it was, but she couldn't help but think that she was doing this for Saturos.

He didn't look at her as they walked, his eyes trained down at his feet and his hands in his pockets. He looked odd to her, as if the fire that seemed to light him perpetually had gone out. He seemed... dull. Without life. What could have happened to him that someone as strong and passionate as him could have just been put out like a light?

She watched Saturos for a while, not knowing whether she should dare talk to him. Even though he was pretty sedate most of the time, Saturos had a nasty temper, and she wasn't really willing to tempt him. Still... it made her feel odd to see him like that.

Jenna almost stabbed herself. Did she have a... did she have a crush on him?

She shook her head, and instead chose to talk to him. "Are you all right, Saturos?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just look... not like yourself." Jenna shrugged, unable to explain it too much better than that. "Like you're depressed or something."

Saturos said nothing, but gave her a sidelong glance that made her feel a little stupid for having asked him anything at all. They walked a ways in silence, neither looking at the other. Jenna followed Saturos' example and stared down at her boots as they trudged through the high grass. After a few minutes, she heard Saturos say, "I... I just really wanted to light the first Lighthouse and move on."

She looked up at him, surprised, as he continued. "My home is everything to me. I don't know what I would do if Prox was destroyed... And I want to finish this quest and go home as soon as possible. But..." He bit his lip with pointed teeth before going on, "Stupid side trips like this will just make that harder."

Jenna got annoyed. He should have known that she would. She sort of felt obligated to, in a way, because that was just who she was. But what she didn't realize was that the words coming out of her mouth were... not angry over his implied insult. "You idiot!" she cried, turning to stand in front of him with her hands on her hips. "Why didn't you just tell me no?"

Saturos stared at her, dumbstruck.

"I'm not worth this pain that you're very obviously feeling." she reprimanded, shaking her head angrily. "Are you stupid or something? If you love your hometown so much, why are you letting a little girl divert you from protecting it? It doesn't make sense!"

Saturos' expression was blank for a moment before a small smile graced his features. "You want to know why?"

Jenna nodded vigorously.

Saturos gave a short chuckle and turned away from her to continue walking towards Bilibin. "Because you deserve to have these sort of things done for you." he said softly. "Not that letting you sleep in a bed and letting you have a proper bath is extravagant... But it's the best I can do, at least for now."

Jenna looked closely at him. Was he blushing?

Jenna walked faster and drew up to his side, still looking at him carefully. She smiled. "Thank you, Saturos." she said, nodding demurely. She hesitated for a moment before reaching out and taking his hand.

Saturos looked down at their conjoined hands in slight shock, his blue skin purpling with a blush, but he looked back up at her and nodded before looking back towards Bilibin. Jenna gazed off in that direction, too.

He wasn't so bad, once she got past the sarcasm. She gave his hand a squeeze and stroked the back of his hand with her thumb.

For once, her fury did something good.

---

A/N: Ah, sorry for taking so long. Again, my original fiction took over, and there was schoolwork, and... eh... Well, there's really no excuse for making all of you wait so long. Please forgive me!

Here is the promised Saturos/Jenna chapter. Actually, I like this one, though it's much more tame both emotionally and physically than the last chapter. The reason it is so tame because Saturos does not strike me as one who would be particularly forthcoming with his emotions, even when other people know how he feels. True, Jenna may be, but I think if she really cares about someone, then she won't push them into doing anything, even if it's as stupid as being entirely frank about their emotions.

Three of the other four chapters involve a kiss of some sort or intensity, so I figured that I'd skip that this time around. Again, since I think Saturos would be rather restrained with his emotions, he'd be just as restrained physically.

I hope you enjoyed it! Kudos to JSB, who requested this!

Next chapter... Hm. Perhaps Ivan/Feizhi... We shall see! I'll do my best to get to all of them at some point.

And thanks again to everyone who reviewed!


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